Google Maps has always shown me the way. Be it the best route for work or navigating my new travel destination amidst low network. I don’t need to ask strangers if I heading the correct way at every turn, like my parents used to when I was a child. So when one day Google told me I can also start adding reviews and photos to these routes and locations, I was a bit excited.
Having just bought my DSLR, I started clicking and uploading my best pictures about almost every location I checked into. It feels good to know that around 1,00,000 people have viewed my photos and read my words. For a beginner photographer, having a new and popular platform for my photos really gives me a nudge to click better.
What’s better is my photos being featured at a few locations. My photos have been featured in the profiles of Kambli Arts, Byculla Garden, Museum Cafe, and many more places. So if any user comes to these places, my photos will be displayed right on top. Also, owners of these places read my reviews and offer their thanks. In fact, at many restaurants and hotels, people ask me to post a review for them. Because nowadays, almost every person checks the reviews of a place online, especially Google Maps, before checking in.
What’s best is that I don’t need to travel to any expensive or exotic location in order to keep those photos coming. I can even go to the nearby park and share that experience. Also, Google, bless them, they keep sending those emails when I am less active.
Through this small action, I’m able to help a user see what these locations look like; help these small businesses grow, and give more eyeballs to my photos. So adding photos is the most interesting thing I’ve done as a Local Guide! It’s still leading me down a path…